Union files complaint on SD pension initiative

San Diego  A second challenge has been filed against a proposed ballot initiative headed for the June ballot that would replace guaranteed pensions with a 401(k)-style plan for most new city hires.

The Municipal Employees Association, San Diego’s largest public employee union representing white-collar workers, has accused Mayor Jerry Sanders of violating state labor laws by refusing to negotiate the elements in the initiative while at the same time using the power of his public office to generate public support for it.

If successful, the complaint, filed last week with the state Public Employment Relations Board, could prevent the initiative from appearing on the ballot and essentially nullifies the nearly 116,000 signatures collected to trigger a public vote.

The labor complaint alleges that Sanders created the so-called citizens initiative as a “sham device” to avoid the city’s obligations to meet-and-confer with unions over significant changes to the pension system.

“As city’s CEO and chief labor negotiator, this mayor has used his city-paid time, resources, power, prestige, visibility and ‘good offices’ to inspire, write, negotiate, endorse and sponsor the proposed citizens initiative which he has described as his legacy as mayor,” the complaint said.

The Mayor’s Office didn’t respond to a request for comment but has previously said the City Attorney’s Office repeatedly advised him that the course he chose was “completely legal.”

City Councilman Carl DeMaio, who crafted the “Comprehensive Pension Reform” initiative with Sanders and others, said it has been thoroughly vetted by private lawyers.

“There’s no factual basis for their complaint,” he said. “We’ve done an exhaustive legal review ahead of time of all the issues in the ballot measure and I’m quite confident it will prevail.”

City Attorney Jan Goldsmith said the city did try to negotiate with labor over pension reforms a year ago and nothing came of it.

“The law does not require or, for that matter, permit a city to meet and confer on a citizens initiative,” he said. “Under the (state) constitution, a citizens initiative belongs to the 100,000-plus registered voters who signed the petition putting it on the ballot. The city has no discretion and must put it on the ballot.”

Michael Zucchet, head of the Municipal Employees Association, said it’s curious that city officials are so confident the initiative will hold up given that there is no case law on this particular subject.

“I don’t think either side can claim they know what’s going to happen because this is something sort of new,” he said. “But we would argue the reason there’s no case law about it is because no city has been quite so brazen about violating state law as it relates to bargaining.”

An agent with the state board will review the case and decide whether it warrants mediation and possibly a hearing before an administrative law judge. The union is requesting an expedited decision.

This isn’t the only challenge to the initiative. Attorney Hud Collins, a lesser-known candidate for mayor, sued the city saying the initiative is a revision rather than an amendment to the city charter as supporters say. If he’s right, the petition would be invalid and the initiative would be thwarted. A hearing is set for Feb. 17 in that case.